


Roaring Fires and Warring Hearts (An Introduction)

by losechesters



Series: LondonVerse [1]
Category: Marvel (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-18
Updated: 2012-11-18
Packaged: 2017-11-18 23:46:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/566667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/losechesters/pseuds/losechesters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor sends Sif on an observation mission to Midgard. Loki is sent as a companion, and neither are all too happy about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roaring Fires and Warring Hearts (An Introduction)

_Asgard, Springtime_

  
It was no different than any other day. Sif trained in the morning, joined in on Thor’s council meetings in the afternoon, but come that evening he had wanted to speak to her privately. And that could never be a good sign, but she went to see him anyway. They had been friends for so long that she knew it could not be something bad. Yes, they were still cut off from some realms, but they were still working on that. So perhaps destroying the bridge was not Thor’s best idea but at the time it was the only option that he had. 

She had noted that Loki was in the corner of the room, sitting there with a scowl upon his face. Whatever it was that was troubling him, he deserved it. Including having Odin strip him of his magic until further notice. 

When Thor saw her, he stepped to her and nodded his head. “Lady Sif,” he said cordially. Definitely not how he normally acknowledged her presence. On normal occasions, there was more fanfare. More excitement in his voice.

“My King,” she responded, covering her chest with an arm as she was used to. If he were being dutiful, so would she.

He had offered her a chair to sit in, so she took it without question. A lesson she had learned long ago. He sat in the one next to her, clearly warring with his words in his head. “We have known each other for quite some time now, is that right?” he asked, laying his hands upon the long wooden table, carved from one of the oldest trees in Asgard, with it’s history carved into it along the edges. She had remembered being a child and sneaking in after council meetings, and running her hand along the intricate designs, as if she would learn something from them that she had not yet learned.

She nodded, anyhow, and laid her hands in her lap. “Aye. Centuries now. Why does that make difference now?” she questioned.  
Thor smiled at her. “Because I know that I can trust you. I know how it is for you, itching to do something other than train. If I may, I have chosen you for a mission.”

As if he didn’t already, he had her attention now. “Yes, Thor. Anything,” she told him. She wanted to see if realms could use her skill, to use her as an asset to them where it was needed. 

“Well, I was hoping to send you to Midgard. It will not be much of a hands on mission. More of you being a watchful eye. To help us understand more of them. While yes, we know much, there are still things we do not. I am giving you eighteen Midgardian months for this mission. To learn all you can. But I am most interested in learning why we hear that their yuletide is so important. So special. This can be for the greater good, Sif. For us to become reaquainted with a world we had been lost to for hundreds of years.”

She sat back in her chair. “Eighteen months. Yuletide?” she asked, and shook her head. “No weapons, just observation. Well, I suppose it cannot be so bad. When do I leave?” she asked, noting how the fires of the sconces hung from the walls danced in his eyes. If she had not known better, she would have told him he had his brother’s gaze upon his face. But she dared not get too ahead of herself. 

“You will leave tomorrow morning. When the day is bright, and you have broken your fast. Loki will be accompanying you.”

Her eyes shot to the disgraced prince. “Him? The liar. The murderer.”

That name caught his attention and he shot up from his chair. “And what makes you so different, hm? What is it that you do in battle? You murder brothers, fathers, sons. You are no better if that is all you think me to be.” he sneered at her. “You are a girl, thinking yourself among men, playing at war. Not owning it.”

“Enough!” Thor’s voice boomed throughout the room, echoing off of it’s impossibly high ceilings. He had heard their jesting throughout the years, their fights. It was what had led Loki to cut her hair in the first place. He had more than paid for it, and he was tired of listening to it. “You will do as your King commands. Both of you.” It was the first time he had ever thrown his title around in such a manner, especially to the two of them. He was not entirely a fan of such things, but when the conversation was heated (and he could feel Sif’s tension. It radiated from her, as if nothing else in the realm mattered but throttling his brother), he deemed it necessary.

“Apologies, _**Odinson**_.” Loki growled, before hustling out of the room. Sif sunk back into her chair.

“Why him? Why can I not take Fandral, or Hogun?” she questioned.

“Because. Hogun does not have the people skills required, and Fandral would be too lost, chasing after maidens.”

“So you send the trickster. He may not have his magic, but he has his voice. His words are his strength, and he does not care who he uses them on. You saw him just now.”

“You goaded him, Sif. You wanted his attention and knew just the way to get it. I would be much appreciative if you would not do so again. You know how Loki is, currently. He is very much a wounded man. He is quick to lash out on any who would speak to him as you have, and I fear he may try to do something stupid. I have assigned him to you so that you are not alone, and that you may keep a close watch on him as well,” he explained to her. “He will be your companion, so I beseech you, Lady Sif, to please try and get along with him. I shall have similar council with him. He needs to know when to let up on you.”

She nodded once. “Then I shall accept your most gracious and kind mission, my Lord. Shall I pack, for this?”

“No. I have been in contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. and everything has been already aquired. They have a story for you, to help you become one with the chosen city. And I am serious, Sif. Treat him with a bit more dignity. He is still my brother.”

 

She had spent the night preparing. She knew hardly anything of the realm that Thor had grown to love so much. There was the usual information, such as it’s geography, and it’s leaders. But the realm was still in turmoil. The Midgardians still warred with one another, with secret agencies essentially the rulers, behind the public’s back.

She began to pack her sword and her shield, but then sighed. Thor had told her that it was to be observation only. She placed her most prized possessions on their pedestal, and stepped back. She hoped that he knew what he was getting her and his brother into. There was not much more she could do. There was never any arguing with him; but it was not like she intended to do so. She preferred not to partake in such activities, not even before he had been crowned. 

Could she then bring other objects? An arm cuff, or a necklace? What of clothing? She had seen from her brief time meeting the Ladies Jane and Darcy that the attire was vastly different. Would she be given clothing, or forced to find a way to aquire her own? These were all things she was unsure of.

There was a time where she would have done absolutely anything for Thor without question. But having Loki acompany her on such a task was pushing it. She had not been the only one who mistrusted the raven haired prince. After learning of what had happened to him, what he had attempted to do to the world under Thor’s protection? They were in their right to avoid him. She thought of how he must lead quite a lonely life now. He had gone from having the masses fawn over him (though of course he had not seen so) to having them shun him as he passed. It was not that he was a Jotun at heart. Most had not even known that truth. Thor, and Odin, had done their best to hide it from the populus. No need to raise alarms.

She heard a knock at the door, and went to answer it. “Your highness,” she said, bowing her head when she had seen Frigga standing on the other side. “I had not expected any visits this evening.”

The Queen offered her a kind smile and Sif allowed her into the sitting room of her chambers. “I wished to offer some advice. Thor has spoken of sending you to Midgard along with Loki. I know it has not always been easy to see oneself on the same page as my second son, but he needs interraction. I know somewhere inside of himself, he is still good. Is still my son.”

Sif sat in the chair opposite of the Queen, and pondered that information for a few moments. “Why tell me of these things?”

“Sif, you have known my sons longer than most. Probably all, if we are to go back so far. I know that you do not truly have malice in your heart where he is concerned.”

“He had shorn my hair from my head. I have not forgiven him for such an offense.”

Frigga chuckled. “Yes, he did. And he more than paid the price for it. You are well aware of such things. Just go easy on him. I am asking as a mother. He will need you just as much as you will need him on this task.”

Sif longed to laugh, to tell Frigga that she had things completely wrong, but she figured now was not a time for such trivial things. The Queen was offering a word with her, and she would be a fool to not listen. So she nodded her head. “Thank you, Your Grace,” she stated, and looked down at her feet. “If I may make a request, I would ask for you to please keep a watch on Thor. I fear for him from time to time.”

“As do I, Lady Sif. As do I.” she said, and placed her hand comfortingly upon Sif’s shoulder. “I wish you luck, and for your safe return to our realm,” she added, and Sif walked her out, with words of gratitude for her counsil.

 

 

  
The next morning, they, along with Thor and a select other few, had stood before the newly reconstructed observatory. Sif held her head high, not letting her nerves show. Or at least she had hoped she had not let them show. If they had, no one spoke of them. Thor had insisted that all of her needs would be taken care of, however it was Sif that had demanded that she be allowed at least one thing from home. It was not nothing large, that would require a close eye upon it. Just a simple piece of jewelry.

A necklace, given to her as a young girl by her father, hung around her neck. It was small, a gold chain with a single unrefined white crystal. Sif did not often wear jewelry, but it had been her favorite since she was a young girl. 

The two of them stepped inside, along with Heimdall. Sif watched as it began to spin, a sight she had grown used to over the centuries. Certain things did not phase her any longer. She had barely noticed if it bothered Loki, being inside once more. Thanks to him, so many things had changed. Thor did not let the Bifrost be used for just anything, so this must have been something important to him, even if she still thought it was a foolish mission.

It mattered not. She had her orders.


End file.
